Congress sang, Sept. 11, 2001

As the sun set on this day in 2001, dozens of Republican and Democratic members of Congress stood on the East Front of the Capitol in a twilight tableau aimed at calming a nation badly shaken by the biggest terrorist attack on the U.S. Many hugged one other as they spontaneously burst into a rendition of “God Bless America.”

With President George W. Bush away from the capital for much of the day, the lawmakers became the nation’s main public presence. They called the strikes on New York and Washington acts of war and vowed that the nation would stand united and fight back.

As Capitol flags hung at half-staff to mourn the dead, congressional leaders said that the lawmakers would go back to work the first thing on the next day to persevere despite the tragic loss of life.

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) openly wept. She was one of the dozens of shaken legislators who in the late afternoon had gone to the headquarters of the Capitol police, a few blocks from the Capitol, for a telephone briefing by congressional leaders. They had been evacuated earlier in the day to an undisclosed, presumably safe, location.

“Senators and House members, Democrats and Republicans, will stand shoulder to shoulder to fight this evil that’s been perpetrated on this nation,” said House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). “We will stand together to make sure that those who brought forth this evil deed will pay a price.”

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) called the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon “an assault on our people and on our freedom.” Daschle added: “As the representatives of the people, we are here to declare that our resolve has not been weakened by these horrific and cowardly acts.”